A MAN and a woman have been arrested in the Barcelona area after committing ‘love hug’ robberies on the Valencia region coast.
The couple of undisclosed nationality, aged 26 and 30, moved around different areas of the Costa Blanca and Valencia province to make it difficult to track them down.
Mainly elderly people were targeted in the street with an affectionate hug or kiss as if the duo knew them.
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Jewellery, bags, and wallets were then snatched and if a victim tried to resist, they responded with violence.
The Policia Nacional said they committed 10 thefts in Alicante province and three in the Valencia area.
The offences took place between February and June.
The couple lived in Santa Coloma de Gramanet in Barcelona province and made special trips south to rob victims.
Numerous jewellery, cash, and objects were discovered at their Santa Coloma home.
They are suspected of being involved in other snatches as some of the recovered items did not correspond to any crime reports.
The couple also have an extensive record of ‘love hug’ crimes.
Similar robberies on the rise in the Valencia region and the Policia Nacional says hat perpetrators often take advantage of the trust and vulnerability of victims, mostly older women, to rob them quickly and disappear without a trace.
In many cases, a female executes the theft and then runs off to a getaway car driven by her male partner in crime.
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